Anatomy Lab----First Impressions

Initially I was concerned about working with a cadaver. No surprise there I guess….but my hesitations weren’t out of disgust for globular fat and gooey messes; I was worried that in the middle of class my mind and heart and imagination would be overwhelmed by thoughts about this person’s life, about life in general, about death and separation, and I would begin to weep, effected by both the beauty and the melancholy. Or, I feared, that I wouldn’t approach this person’s body with enough humility and sense of sacredness, that I would neglect to fully appreciate the sacrifice, lost perhaps in the stench of formaldehyde and the stress of learning what was expected of me. What I found was much simpler. I took a moment to observe this body before we began lab for the first time, but then easily became engaged in the technical work to be performed, finding borders and separating muscle from fascia and bone. It wasn’t difficult to maintain respectfulness either. The human body is so extraordinary that it inspires wonder even when it no longer functions , even when you are cutting and peeling and digging into it. The day we dissected the spinal cord for example we were required to be a little more rough; using saws, chisels and hammers to take off the posterior half of the vertebral column. We were not gentle; we couldn’t have been. But the moment the hunk of vertebrae was lifted off to reveal the tender-looking meninges (which surround the spinal cord) beneath, our whole group in unison actually gasped a little and “Wow”ed at this tender little marvel! The nervous system seems particularly awe-inspiring, because even though digestion is certainly necessary for human existence, the ability to sense things, integrate those concepts, and respond seems a much more intimate process....Really, placing value on these systems is flawed for a few reasons 1) although they have their own function and structural particulars, they are themselves connected and 2) I have no experience being without digestion or a perception/response system.

Back to the topic of lab.

When I went home after the first day I took a cat nap and I thought of this experience as I was falling asleep…it just sort of popped into my head randomly as happens when you are losing control of your thoughts to dreams. 30 minutes later I woke up fresh not disturbed but reminded…so I said a brief prayer for her happiness in the next life, and ….let’s say I went on to studying (even though I probably web surfed a bit).